SCAMS IN OUR AREA BELTRAMI COUNTY

Sheriff Phil Hodapp advises that two scams are currently operating in Beltrami

County as well as across Minnesota and elsewhere. Citizens need to be aware of

this latest threat.

The first involves a letter sent to property owners from a company purporting to be

HomeServe out of Saint Paul, MN (note not St. Paul but Saint Paul). It specifically

says: NOTICE- Beltrami County Resident and goes on to explain that your

property does not have Water Service Line Coverage. A barcode with a specific

Record Locater also appears on the letter. In addition, address information is

noted. This is not legitimate. Homeowners should destroy the letter and not reply

nor attempt purchase of the coverage offered as the offer is not credible.

The next scam is presenting as an email sent to email account owners and will

normally show up as SPAM and/or VIRUS in your email if you have current anti-

virus installed on your computer. Various emails using differing business names

advise that you have charged a certain amount to your credit card. The usual

verbiage looks like this: “You have chosen to pay by credit card. Your card will be

charged for” some amount of money (usually $497.00 or $797.00) and gives a

business name. Do not open or reply to this. Immediately delete the message and

run anti-virus software on your computer to assure that you did not get infected with

a virus. Unless you have specifically ordered something from that company and

have a receipt from them verifying the amount this scam can cause problems. It is

also wise to notify your credit card company that you did not make the purchase in

the event the scammer has gained access to your card information.